Hard to believe we are moving into November this week, the time is really flying! Had a great weekend decorating the yard and carving pumpkins, the kids are really excited, and I have to admit, I’m a little excited too. Hopefully whatever occupied your time this weekend you were able to relax and enjoy the company of those you care about.

We have a busy week coming up with interviews, I hope everyone is looking forward to sharing the great things that are going on here at Waldheim School. The first learning link this week is a resource that contains tips and strategies for parent/teacher conferences. Hopefully you have thought about what it is you are going to share with parents and have some examples on hand as some evidence of learning. I know they are long days, but they are very important in the building of the home and school connection.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about our engagement work since last week and continue to ask myself the question, “how do we know what will engage the kids?” I’ve had a lot of conversations with students and have asked them what they would like to learn about, many of them are stumped for an answer. As the conversation continues we usually come around to the topic of relevance, the students usually want to know why they are learning what it is they are learning. We’ve all seen kids who are motivated to work on things on their own time simply because of the intrinsic rewards that are offered by the task itself. I think about the kids who worked so hard to make the school dance the best possible experience it could be for the other students. They did not do this because there was a mark attached to their work, they did so because they knew the reward would be worth the effort. This summer I read Daniel Pink’s book, Drive, and while many of the ideas in the book were geared towards business, the overlap with education was undeniable. In learning link two, Pink talks about motivation. As you watch, what connections do you make to what happens in schools today? What changes do you need to make to help students become more intrinsically motivated? What do you need to make those changes? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

Here’s what lies ahead this week:

Monday:

• Dress up day for students
• Teachers play dodge ball at noon

Tuesday:

• Chris away ~ all day

Wednesday: 

• P/T Interviews ~ supper provided

Thursday:

• P/T Interviews ~ supper provided

Friday:

• The light at the end of the tunnel 🙂

As always, create a great week!